NEW YORK, Nov 26 U.S. stocks eased on Monday
after a rebound rally pushed the S&P 500 to its best week in
more than five months last week and as investors focused on
talks to release aid to Greece and negotiations in Washington to
avoid the U.S. "fiscal cliff."

Major indexes ended last week with gains of 3 percent to 4
percent, recovering some of their losses following an 8 percent
correction since September. The Dow and S&P 500 both closed
above key technical levels for the first time since Nov. 6,
which could provide additional support. The Dow ended above
13,000, while the S&P broke above 1,400.

Investors continued to chew over two of the greatest
overhangs for markets. Euro zone finance ministers and the IMF
will seek to unfreeze the second bailout package for Greece on
Monday. At the same time, U.S. lawmakers have made little
progress in the past 10 days toward a compromise to avoid the
harsh tax increases and government spending cuts.

"Friday was a big day in the stock market," said Tim
Ghriskey, chief investment officer at Solaris Group in Bedford
Hills, New York. "So it's not surprising at all to see some
profit-taking on that."

Knight Capital Group Inc is in talks about possibly
selling its market-making operation, its largest and most
profitable business, but it is not known if a deal will happen,
sources familiar with the matter said on Saturday. The stock
jumped 10 percent to $2.74.

Qatar has cashed in its remaining warrants in Britain's
Barclays Plc, a move that should yield a $280 million
profit. The warrants have not yet been converted, but conversion
would dilute the holding of shares by other investors.
U.S.-listed shares of Barclays fell 6.4 percent to
$15.24.

Apple Inc has asked a federal court to add six more
products to its patent infringement lawsuit against Samsung
Electronics Co, including the Samsung Galaxy Note
II, in the latest move in an ongoing legal war between the two
companies. Apple shares were up 1.1 percent at $577.86.

While holiday shopping appeared to be off to a good start,
analysts cautioned against reading too much into one weekend's
numbers. Retailers have to sustain the initial burst through the
November-December holiday season, which can account for a third
of annual sales and 40 to 50 percent of profits for the year.

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